During the court hearing, the accused - who is in his thirties - pleaded not guilty.

A bank employee has been charged by the Sharjah Criminal Court with forging documents to fraudulently obtain 67 credit cards in the names of bank customers, within a span of six months.

The man, who had been working in a Sharjah-based bank for a year-and-a-half, was confronted by the presiding judge for the large-scale forgery.

He procured the credit cards through the bank electronic system after submitting forged passports, ID cards and other documents. He also forged signatures of clients to get the cards issued in their name and siphon off the money.

During the court hearing, the accused - who is in his thirties - pleaded not guilty.

A bank official testified that the employee had been managing one of the counters at the office. She added that as part of his job, he met customers and received their documents. The accused could enter the documents in the system and issue credit cards. She said that at the time of the crime, she was a trainee at the bank.

The accused used to give her documents and after revising them, she would sign on the card applications. Later, the accused would take the procedure further, she said.

She said that after issuing the card, the bank sends it to a courier company, which delivers it to the customer, after he/she presents Emirates ID and acknowledges its receipt.

According to the prosecution, the accused carried out his scheme when he learnt the victims were travelling outside the country and ensured their phones were not working so that they did not receive any message.

The lawyer of the accused asked the bank employee - the witness - whether the accused could do all the transactions by himself and issue the credit card without getting approval from bank officials. He requested the court to hear testimony of two senior bank officials - MH and FM - who are supervising him. However, the judge turned it down.

The details of the forgery came to light on October 10, 2017 when a bank customer - who was living in Ras Al Khaimah - complained he had received notification from the bank for having used Dh50,000 on his credit card. The customer said that he had never applied for any such card.

The UAE national filed a case at a police station in Sharjah. Following this, the police and bank officials launched an investigation and found that a large number of credit cards were issued by using forged documents.

The accused was nabbed after a thorough probe.

The court adjourned hearing to April 15, when it will hear the defence.